Method and apparatus for setting up network for ip communication in mobile terminal

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus are provided for setting up a network for IP communication between mobile terminals. A first mobile terminal determines a second mobile terminal that will communicate with the first mobile terminal. The first mobile terminal generates a network setup message including network setup information of the second mobile terminal. The network setup message is sent from the first mobile terminal to the second mobile terminal. The first mobile terminal IP communicates with the second mobile terminal, which performs network setup based on the network setup information received from the first mobile terminal.

PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation Application from U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/493,457, filed in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice on Jun. 11, 2012, which is a Continuation Application from U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/725,068, filed in the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office on Mar. 16, 2010, and which claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119(a) to a Korean Patent Application filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Mar. 16, 2009 and assigned Serial No.10-2009-0022299, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a mobile communicationterminal (hereinafter referred to as a “mobile terminal”), and moreparticularly, to a method and an apparatus for setting up a network forInternet Protocol (IP) communication in a mobile terminal.

2. Description of the Related Art

A variety of network technologies and services are applied to the manymobile/wireless terminals that have emerged in the field of mobilecommunication and wireless communication (or IP communication).Conventional mobile terminals support only a mobile phone function andshort message delivery. However, mobile terminals have developed intosmart phones supporting complex functions such as wireless broadcast,data communication, and multimedia playback. Additionally, the advent ofmobile PC-type devices, such as mini notebook computers, net-books andMobile Internet Devices (MIDs), has made it possible to support thefunctions of a mobile communication domain and an IP-based wirelesscommunication domain, such as IP-based Wireless Local Area Network(WLAN) in a single device.

The convergence of mobile communication functions and wirelesscommunication functions enables a variety of services, such as, Internetaccess, file sharing, network games and group communication, based on awireless communication network, such as, Wireless Local Area Network(LAN), Bluetooth and Ultra Wideband (UWB), along with traditionalservices based on mobile communication.

An IP-based WLAN communication system supports an infrastructure schemeand an Ad-hoc scheme. In the infrastructure scheme, WLAN devicesexisting in a communication area of a wireless Access Point (AP) areconnected to each other via the AP. Specifically, a first devicecommunicates with a second device via an AP. The AP serves as a relaybetween the first device and the second device. The Ad-hoc schemesupports Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communication between devices each having aWLAN interface. In the Ad-hoc scheme, two devices communicate with eachother directly without an additional device like the AP.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show access methods during general WLAN communication.

FIG. 1A shows an Ad-hoc scheme, in which a first device 101 and a seconddevice 102 directly access each other for communication. FIG. 1B showsan infrastructure scheme, in which the first device 101 communicateswith the second device 102 via an AP 103.

Generally, for IP-based communication, every terminal needs the settingitems shown in Table 1 below. The setting process may be modified bysimplifying or omitting part according to a security setting or an IPsetting. However, performance of the basic network setup is required.

TABLE 1 Setting Items Details WLAN On/Off WLAN On WLAN Off Device AccessMode Setting Ad-Hoc mode AP mode Ad-Hoc + AP mode Network Setup DHCP(Automatic) Manual Setting IP Address setting Subnet Mask settingDefault Gateway setting DNS setting Security Setting WEP setting WEPrelease Encryption setting Network Key Setting Network Key settingNetwork Key inputting

The ‘WLAN On/Off’ item in Table 1 indicates whether a WLAN interface isused after completion of the basic network setup process. Because of itslarge power consumption, WLAN basically supports a sleep mode in anon-transmission state. When not using WLAN, a mobile terminal turns offthe WLAN by blocking its WLAN interface. Therefore, the mobile terminalshould switch the WLAN to the On-state when it needs to reuse the WLAN.

The “Device Access Mode Setting” item indicates any one of the Ad-hocscheme and the infrastructure scheme that the user wants when using theWLAN. The Ad-hoc scheme, in which devices are connected to each otherdirectly for communication without an AP, may be utilized forPhone-to-Phone communication. The infrastructure scheme, in which twodevices are connected to each other via an AP, operates in general WLANcommunication. However, the infrastructure scheme may not be used in aplace without the AP.

The “Network Setup” item sets an IP, and when using a Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) function, each terminal may beautomatically assigned an IP and may set a necessary protocol. However,the terminal sets a network setup option with DHCP. Unlike the DHCPsetting, a manual setting method is inconvenient because each terminalinputs an assigned IP and other setting information one by one.

The “Security Setting” item sets a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) forsecurity of WLAN communication. Compared to wire communication, WLAN isvulnerable to security because all data is transmitted wirelessly.Therefore, in many cases, WLAN sets network security using the WEPsetting.

The “Network Key Setting” item sets a network key. When sharing WLAN,all devices in the range (or coverage) of WLAN may access thecommunication network in principle. Therefore, a network key may be setto restrict users so that only authorized users may access the network.Specifically, a network establisher sets a network key and a deviceattempting to access the network may not access the WLAN unless itinputs the set network key.

The latest mobile terminals, to which an IP-based communication functionlike WLAN is added, may provide a variety of services, such as filetransfer, E-mail transmission/reception, wireless Internet access,network games, and group communication, in addition to the existingmobile communication services. In order to use WLAN communication, eachterminal performs WLAN network setup. However, due to the significantcomplexity of the network setup process as shown in Table 1, users mayneed basic knowledge about the network in order to use the WLAN. Becauseof the complex procedure for performing network setup for WLANcommunication, the majority of ordinary users lacking the networkknowledge may have a low utilization of WLAN communication over mobileterminals.

If every terminal is automatically assigned an IP address and a networkconfiguration parameter by the conventional DHCP setting, the complexsetting items mentioned in Table 1 may be reduced in number. However,this method selects a DHCP setting option, and if a network securitysetting or a network key is set, the user identifies access informationand directly inputs the information. Also, a DHCP access method requiresthat an AP or a router supporting a DHCP server function be supportedand that a DHCP client function be supported in a user terminal.

WLAN has structural security vulnerability because it transmits datawirelessly and may search for all terminals existing in a particulararea. If the security setting or the network key for WLAN communicationis not set, the network may be exposed to malicious attacks by the thirdparties, causing serious problems.

Wireless IP communication is less used by ordinary users due to theinconvenience that each terminal is required to perform the securitysetting and access setting by itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to address at least the aboveproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present inventionprovides a method and an apparatus for performing network setup for IPcommunication, in which a mobile terminal supporting IP communicationmay perform network setup for IP communication in a less complex mannerthan the conventional network setup, ensure security of network setupinformation, and prevent an unauthorized third party from participatingin IP communication.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is providedfor setting up a network for IP communication between mobile terminals.A first mobile terminal determines a second mobile terminal that willcommunicate with the first mobile terminal. The first mobile terminalgenerates a network setup message including network setup information ofthe second mobile terminal. The network setup message is sent from thefirst mobile terminal to the second mobile terminal. The first mobileterminal IP communicates with the second mobile terminal, which performsnetwork setup based on the network setup information received from thefirst mobile terminal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a mobile terminalis provided for performing IP communication. The mobile terminalincludes a storage for storing information. The mobile terminal alsoincludes an IP network module for performing IP communication. Themobile terminal further includes a controller for determining a secondmobile terminal that will communicate with the mobile terminal,generating a network setup message including network setup informationof the second mobile terminal, sending the network setup message to thesecond mobile terminal, and IP communicating with the second mobileterminal, which performs network setup based on the network setupinformation received from the mobile terminal.

According to an additional aspect of the present invention, a mobileterminal is provided for performing IP communication. The mobileterminal includes a storage for storing information, and an IP networkmodule for performing IP communication. The mobile terminal alsoincludes a controller for receiving a message from a second mobileterminal, determining whether the received message is a network setupmessage including network setup information of the mobile terminal,extracting the network setup information by analyzing the receivednetwork setup message when the received message is the network setupmessage, and performing network setup for IP communication with thesecond mobile terminal that has generated the network setup message,based on the extracted network setup information, when the receivedmessage is the network setup message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following description whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating access methods during generalWLAN communication;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a network access operation for IPcommunication between mobile terminals, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile terminal, according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a first mobileterminal during network access for IP communication between mobileterminals, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are diagrams illustrating how to set IP addresses ofa first mobile terminal and a second mobile terminal during networkaccess for IP communication between mobile terminals, according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a second mobileterminal during network access for IP communication between mobileterminals, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. The same or similar componentsmay be designated by the same or similar reference numerals althoughthey are illustrated in different drawings. Detailed descriptions ofconstructions or processes known in the art may be omitted to avoidobscuring the subject matter of the present invention.

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for setting upa network for IP communication in a mobile terminal. A first mobileterminal determined to request connection of IP communication performssetup of its network. A message including network setup information of asecond mobile terminal determined to receive the IP communicationrequest is generated. The generated message is sent to a counterpartterminal with which the first mobile terminal will perform IPcommunication, over a mobile communication network (hereinafter referredto as a “mobile network”). The message including network setupinformation is received by the counterpart terminal. The receivedmessage is analyzed., Network setup for IP communication isautomatically performed using the network setup information included inthe message.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a network access operation for IPcommunication between mobile terminals, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 2 shows an initial network access operationfor a WLAN service based on IP communication. A description is providedof a WLAN network access operation between a mobile terminal 10(hereinafter referred to as a “first mobile terminal”) requesting a WLANservice and a mobile terminal 20 (hereinafter referred to as a “secondmobile terminal”) that performs WLAN communication by receiving the WLANservice request from the first mobile terminal 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, in step 210, the first mobile terminal 10 setsbasic input information for WLAN setup in order to perform a WLANservice. More specifically, the first mobile terminal 10 sets a WLANrange or a number of second mobile terminals 20 capable of participatingin WLAN communication, and determines or sets at least one second mobileterminal 20 with which the first mobile terminal 10 will communicate.

The WLAN range is defined by determining the second mobile terminals 20capable of participating in the current WLAN communication.Specifically, the WLAN range may be set such that only a few terminalsmay access the network, a plurality of terminals may access the networkon a group basis, or all terminals intending to participate in thecommunication may access the network. The determination of the at leastone terminal that will perform communication with the first mobileterminal 10 may be achieved based on an input signal received by theuser by searching a previously stored phone book or selecting a phonenumber from a preset list. The determination may also be based on aninput signal received by the user by inputting a phone number directly.

While only one second mobile terminal 20 is shown in FIG. 2, the firstmobile terminal 10 may perform IP communication with a plurality ofsecond mobile terminals 20 through the same procedure according to theset range of WLAN.

The reason for receiving a mobile phone number of the second mobileterminal 20 with which the first mobile terminal 10 will communicate isto send a message including network setup information to the receivedphone number over a mobile network.

In step 220, the first mobile terminal 10 performs its own network setupfor WLAN communication. A network of the first mobile terminal 10 is setup according to the basic input information for WLAN setup, which wasset in step 210. This step includes setting a Service Set Identifier(SSID), an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a subnet mask, a defaultgateway, a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), and a network key of thefirst mobile terminal 10.

The range of accessible second mobile terminals 20 may be set using theIP address and the subnet mask. If Ad-hoc P2P communication is set sothat only two terminals may access each other, the range may bedesignated by adjusting a network Identifier (ID) and a host ID of an IPaddress. By designating a communication range by setting the IP addressand the subnet mask, it is possible to prevent terminals other than thedesired terminal from participating in the current WLAN communication.For secure communication, the WEP setting may be performed and then thenetwork key may be generated to prevent a terminal that does not knowthe generated network key from participating in the communication.

The first mobile terminal 10 may designate not only its own networksetup information for WLAN, but also network setup information of thesecond mobile terminal 20. For example, the first mobile terminal 10 maygenerate its own IP address by generating a network ID and a host ID,and assign an IP address existing in the range of the subnet mask toeach of the second mobile terminals 20. This enables fast network setupwhen the second mobile terminal 20 receives a message including networksetup information, thus enhancing the security of the network.

In step 230, the first mobile terminal 10 generates a network setupmessage including network setup information of the second mobileterminal 20. A plurality of messages may be generated according to thenumber of second mobile terminals 20 that will perform communicationwith the first mobile terminal 10. The network setup message isgenerated in the form of a general Short Message Service (SMS) or aMultimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message.

In step 240, the first mobile terminal 10 sends the generated networksetup message to the second mobile terminal 20 over the mobile network.

In step 250, the second mobile terminal 20 receives the network setupmessage and extracts network setup information included in the networksetup message. The second mobile terminal 20 analyzes the receivedmessage and automatically extracts information needed to access the WLANnetwork generated by the first mobile terminal 10.

The extracted information includes all information necessary for networksetup and all information necessary for WLAN access, including an IPaddress, a subnet mask, a default gateway, a WEP and a network key forterminals desiring to access the network, and information (an IP addressand a MAC address) about the first mobile terminal 10. This informationis defined during network setup in step 220.

In step 260, the second mobile terminal 20 performs network setup forWLAN communication with the first mobile terminal 10 using the networksetup information extracted in step 250. The extracted network setupinformation includes information about an application that the firstmobile terminal 10 desires to service. Based on this information, theapplication may be activated upon WLAN access.

In step 270, communication is performed through a WLAN connectionbetween the first mobile terminal 10 and the second mobile terminal 20.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile terminal, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a mobile terminal includes a display 310, a networksetup message handler 320, an IP network module 330, a storage 340, acontroller 350, an input unit 360, and a mobile communication unit 370.

The mobile terminal of FIG. 3 may serve as either the first mobileterminal 10, or the second mobile terminal 20 that performs IPcommunication with the first mobile terminal 10. Also, components andfunctions of the mobile terminal may be separated such that the mobileterminal may serve as only the first mobile terminal 10 or the secondmobile terminal 20.

The storage 340 stores information that the mobile terminal needs forits operation. In an embodiment of the present invention, the storage340 stores information about an application the terminal desires toservice through WLAN communication. The application may includesapplications that are supportable based on WLAN communication, such asfile sharing, network games and group communication.

The input unit 360 may include a keypad and/or a touch screen, anddelivers a user input signal to the controller 350. In an embodiment ofthe present invention, the first mobile terminal 10 receives mobilephone numbers of second mobile terminals 20 with which it will performWLAN communication.

The display 310 displays various display information of the mobileterminal. In an embodiment of the present invention, the display 310displays various processing results and check points during a networksetup operation for IP communication.

The mobile communication unit 370 transmits and receives data such asvoice data and messages over the mobile network.

The network setup message handler 320 generates a network setup messageincluding network setup information of the second mobile terminal 20,when the terminal serves as the first mobile terminal 10. In generatingthe network setup message, the network setup message handler 320includes a preset value in a header part of the network setup message sothat the network setup message may be distinguished from generalmessages.

When the terminal serves as the second mobile terminal 20, upon receiptof a message, the network setup message handler 320 determines whetherthe received message is a network setup message including network setupinformation. If the received message is a network setup message, thenetwork setup message handler 320 extracts network setup informationfrom the received message. The determination of whether the receivedmessage is a general message or a network setup message is achieved bychecking a header part of the received message.

When the terminal serves as the first mobile terminal 10, the controller350 receives, through the input unit 360, information about the numberof second mobile terminals 20 capable of participating in the WLANcommunication and information about at least one second mobile terminal20 that will communicate with the first mobile terminal 10. Thecontroller 350 generates its own network setup information for the WLANcommunication, and controls the IP network module 330 to perform networksetup using the network setup information. The controller 350 alsocontrols the network setup message handler 320 to generate a networksetup message including network setup information of the second mobileterminals 20 and to send the generated network setup message to thesecond mobile terminal 20 over the mobile network.

When the terminal serves as the second mobile terminal 20, upon receiptof a message over the mobile network, the controller 350 determineswhether the received message is a network setup message. If the receivedmessage is a network setup message, the controller 350 controls thenetwork setup message handler 320 to analyze the received network setupmessage and extract network setup information from the network setupmessage. The controller 350 also controls the IP network module 330 toperform network setup for WLAN communication with the first mobileterminal 10 based on the extracted network setup information.

The IP network module 330 sets up a network according to the networksetup information generated by the controller 350, and performs IPcommunication depending on the set network. When the terminal serves asthe second mobile terminal 20, the IP network module 330 performsnetwork setup using network setup information extracted from thereceived network setup message.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a first mobile terminalduring network access for IP communication between mobile terminals,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in step 410, the first mobile terminal 10 generatesa WLAN service request during execution of an application or byselecting WLAN communication on a menu of the first mobile terminal 10.In step 420, the controller 350 displays a WLAN range and display itemson the display 310 to receive a phone number of the second mobileterminal 20 with which the first mobile terminal 10 wants tocommunicate. The controller 350 determines the second mobile terminal 20with which it will communicate, based on the information received fromthe user.

In step 430, the controller 350 generates WLAN network setup informationof the first mobile terminal 10, and delivers the generated informationto the IP network module 330. The IP network module 330 sets up itsnetwork according to the network setup information. The network setupinformation includes an SSID, an IP address, a subnet mask, a defaultgateway, a WEP and a network key of the first mobile terminal 10. The IPnetwork module 330 performs its own network setup and sets a WLAN stateto the On-state, entering an idle state in which it receives data fromthe second mobile terminal 20. The IP network module 330 may deliver thenetwork setup results to the controller 350 to display the network setupresults on the display 310.

When generating the network setup information in step 430, thecontroller 350 determines an IP address and a subnet mask according tothe WLAN range. Setting an IP address will be described in detail belowwith reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C.

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C show how to set IP addresses of a first mobileterminal and a second mobile terminal during network access for IPcommunication between mobile terminals, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. In an embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, anIP address uses a private IP address and is based on a 192 network.

FIG. 5A illustrates a network setup during Peer-to-Peer (P2P)communication so that only a maximum of two second mobile terminals 20may access the network. Since the network should be set up such thatonly a maximum of two second mobile terminals 20 can access the network,only two bits are assigned for a host ID field in an IP address. Thefirst mobile terminal 10 and the two second mobile terminals 20receiving a message may access the generated network. No other hosts(third parties) may access the network. Regarding a network ID of thefirst mobile terminal 10, for the network security, a third frame fieldof the IP address is set using a phone number of the first mobileterminal 10 or a random number as shown in FIG. 5A. This may reduce theprobability of generating the same network since the first mobileterminal 10 has a unique identification number referred to as a mobilephone number. It is also possible to generate a specific network ID atrandom, but this is disadvantageous in that networks having the samerandom value may be generated in the same area. If a subnet mask fieldis set as ‘255.255.255.252’ to represent a network ID field, the numberof generable host's IP addresses is limited to 3. Thus, the first mobileterminal 10 is assigned one IP address and the remaining two IPaddresses are assigned to the second mobile terminals 20.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example of setting IP addresses and a subnet maskwhen multiple second mobile terminals 20 are needed for groupcommunication, network games, and the like. In order to enable multiplesecond mobile terminals 20 to access the network, three bits of the IPaddress are assigned for a host ID field, so that the first mobileterminal 10 is assigned one IP address and the remaining IP addressesare assigned to the second mobile terminals 20 one by one. Each of thesecond mobile terminals 20 sets an IP address assigned thereto,preventing collision of network IP addresses. A subnet mask is set as adesired group range such as, ‘255.255.255.248’, thereby designating ahost ID field.

FIG. 5C illustrates the same network setup as the IP address (C-class)communication. In order to prevent the IP address collision, an IPaddress may be assigned to each of the second mobile terminals 20, andwhen a function capable of assigning an IP address to each of secondmobile terminals 20, like the DHCP function, may be used, IP addressesof the second mobile terminals 20 may not be set individually.

Further, the controller 350 may generate and use any SSID, and may set asecurity option and a network key for the network security.

Referring again to FIG. 4, in step 440, the network setup messagehandler 320 generates a network setup message including network setupinformation of the second mobile terminal 20 with which it intends tocommunicate, by receiving the network setup information from thecontroller 350. The network setup information of the second mobileterminal 20 includes an SSID, an IP address, a subnet mask, a defaultgateway, a WEP and a network key of the second mobile terminal 20. Thenetwork setup message is generated in the form of a general SMS or MMSmessage. In addition, the network setup message includes informationabout a security option or a network key corresponding to the networksetup of the first mobile terminal 10, and also includes informationabout an IP address and a subnet mask that are set according to the WLANrange. If there exists an application that has requested WLANcommunication, the network setup message may also include informationabout an application that is to be activated using the WLANcommunication.

In step 450, the controller 350 sends the network setup messagegenerated by the network setup message handler 320 to the second mobileterminal 20 through the mobile communication unit 370 and over themobile network. The controller 350 sends the network setup message tothe phone number of the second mobile terminal 20, which was received instep 420, over the mobile network.

FIG. 6 illustrates an operation of a second mobile terminal duringnetwork access for IP communication between mobile terminals, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

Upon receiving a message over a mobile network in step 610, thecontroller 350 determines whether the received message is a generalmessage or a network setup message in step 620. If the received messageis not a network setup message, the controller 350 performs a generalmessage reception operation in step 630 and then ends the process. Thedetermination of whether a received message is a general message or anetwork setup message in step 620 is achieved by checking a header partof the received message. If a preset value defined during generation ofa network setup message is detected from a header part of the receivedmessage, the controller 350 determines the received message as thenetwork setup message.

If the received message is a network setup message in step 620, thecontroller 350 displays a WLAN access request on the display 310 in step640. The controller 350 may also display a screen asking the userwhether to accept WLAN access.

In step 650, the controller 350 determines whether WLAN access isaccepted. If WLAN access is not accepted in step 650, the controller 350ends the process. If WLAN access is accepted, the controller 350analyzes the received network setup message and extracts network setupinformation in step 660. The network setup information is defined in amessage type having a specific standard, making it possible to extractdesired information from a preset location.

In step 670, the controller 350 performs network setup for WLANcommunication using the network setup information extracted by the IPnetwork module 330.

In step 680, the controller 350 accesses WLAN and communicates with thefirst mobile terminal 10.

During WLAN communication in both the Ad-hoc scheme described above andin the conventional infrastructure mode, a first mobile terminal maygenerate a message including network setup information in a similarmanner and send the message to a second mobile terminal over a mobilenetwork so that the second mobile terminal may perform network setup.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to embodimentsof the present invention, a mobile terminal supporting IP communicationlike WLAN may simply perform network setup for IP communication, thusincreasing security of IP communication. Additionally, the mobileterminal may selectively set accessible terminals during network setup,thereby restricting access to undesired terminals.

Further, a network is set up using a unique identifier called a mobilephone number, and the network setup information is transmitted in theform of a security-guaranteed message of the mobile network, thusenabling more secure network configuration.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and detail may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for setting up a network for InternetProtocol (IP) communication between mobile terminals, comprising thesteps of: determining, by a first mobile terminal, a second mobileterminal that will communicate with the first mobile terminal;generating, by the first mobile terminal, a network setup messageincluding network setup information of the second mobile terminal;sending the network setup message from the first mobile terminal to thesecond mobile terminal; and IP communicating, by the first mobileterminal, with the second mobile terminal, which performs network setupbased on the network setup information received from the first mobileterminal.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a second mobileterminal comprises setting a number of second mobile terminals capableof participating in the IP communication, and determining at least onesecond mobile terminal that will communicate with the first mobileterminal.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the network setupinformation of the second mobile terminal comprises at least one of aService Set Identifier (SSID), an IP address, a subnet mask, a defaultgateway, a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and a network key of thesecond mobile terminal.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the networksetup information of the second mobile terminal further comprisesinformation about an application to be serviced through the IPcommunication.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the subnet mask is setbased on a number of second mobile terminals capable of participating inthe IP communication.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein a third framevalue of the IP address is set using a mobile phone number of the firstmobile terminal, or is set randomly.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe network setup message is in a form of a Short Message Service (SMS)message or a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein sending the network set up message comprises sendingthe network setup message to the second mobile terminal over a mobilenetwork.
 9. A mobile terminal for performing Internet Protocol (IP)communication, comprising: a storage for storing information; an IPnetwork module for performing IP communication; and a controller fordetermining a second mobile terminal that will communicate with themobile terminal, generating a network setup message including networksetup information of the second mobile terminal, sending the networksetup message to the second mobile terminal, and IP communicating withthe second mobile terminal, which performs network setup based on thenetwork setup information received from the mobile terminal.
 10. Themobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the controller sets a number ofsecond mobile terminals capable of participating in the IPcommunication, and determines at least one second mobile terminal thatwill communicate with the mobile terminal.
 11. The mobile terminal ofclaim 9, wherein the network setup information of the second mobileterminal comprises at least one of a Service Set Identifier (SSID), anIP address, a subnet mask, a default gateway, a Wired Equivalent Privacy(WEP) and a network key of the second mobile terminal.
 12. The mobileterminal of claim 9, wherein the network setup information of the secondmobile terminal further comprises information about an application to beserviced through the IP communication.
 13. The mobile terminal of claim11, wherein the subnet mask is set based on a number of second mobileterminals capable of participating in the IP communication.
 14. Themobile terminal of claim 11, wherein a third frame value of the IPaddress is set using a mobile phone number of the mobile terminal, or isset randomly.
 15. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the networksetup message is in a form of a Short Message Service (SMS) message or aMultimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message.
 16. The mobile terminal ofclaim 9, wherein se the controller sends the network setup message tothe second mobile terminal over a mobile network.
 17. A mobile terminalfor performing Internet Protocol (IP) communication, comprising: astorage for storing information; an IP network module for performing IPcommunication; and a controller for receiving a message from a secondmobile terminal, determining whether the received message is a networksetup message including network setup information of the mobileterminal, extracting the network setup information by analyzing thereceived network setup message when the received message is the networksetup message, and performing network setup for IP communication withthe second mobile terminal that has generated the network setup message,based on the extracted network setup information, when the receivedmessage is the network setup message.
 18. The mobile terminal of claim17, wherein the controller checks whether a preset value is included ina header part of the received message, and determines the receivedmessage is the network setup message if the preset value is included inthe header part.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the network setupinformation of the mobile terminal comprises at least one of a ServiceSet Identifier (SSID), an IP address, a subnet mask, a default gateway,a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and a network key of the mobileterminal.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the network setup messageis in a form of a Short Message Service (SMS) message or a MultimediaMessaging Service (MMS) message.